Re: FACT CHECK: ARE THERE MORE AMERICANS ON FOOD STAMPS THAN THERE ARE PEOPLE IN CANADA?

"The House bill would have expanded the work requirements to include people up to age 59 and parents with children ages 6 and older,"

So we want parents to leave 6-year-olds home alone? I know I don't. Does that make me a person who believes in free handouts? That's certainly the lie about the lieft that I see here over and over, and which I suspect is the point of this post.

I have no problem with work requirements if there are jobs available. I do NOT support using food stamp recipients as slave labor for the state if there aren't.

For those who aren't qualified for available jobs, I also support job training. Of course, Ronnie R. killed a successful job training program back in the 1980s. Oh well, there go your partisan talking points.

Re: FACT CHECK: ARE THERE MORE AMERICANS ON FOOD STAMPS THAN THERE ARE PEOPLE IN CANADA?

Food stamps become a way of life for many in the US and the way of life is passed to the next generation. I have seen this so many times. No incentive for some to ever move beyond this because it is made easy for them.

“More Americans on Food Stamps than the entire population of Canada. Yet Democrats won’t support work requirements for able-bodied adults receiving your tax dollars,” he tweeted.

Verdict: True

Canada has an estimated total population of 37 million, while 40.3 million Americans used food stamps in fiscal year 2018.

Fact Check:

Jordan’s tweet linked to an article discussing the debate over the new farm bill, which includes funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

In FY 2018, 40.3 million people living in 20.1 million households participated in SNAP, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The average SNAP household received about $250 per month. The Census Bureau estimates there are currently 329 million people living in the U.S.

Canada had a population of 37.1 million as of July, according to Statistics Canada, an agency of the Canadian government.

The number of SNAP participants had been increasing steadily since the start of the 21st century, rising from an average of 17.2 million in FY 2000 to 28.2 million in FY 2008. It spiked to a high of 47.6 million in FY 2013 in the years following the Great Recession, followed by a decline as the economy continued to recover.

In its report for FY 2016, the USDA found that 82 percent of SNAP households live in or near large cities. Eighteen percent of households had gross incomes above the poverty line.

The House bill would have expanded the work requirements to include people up to age 59 and parents with children ages 6 and older, which House Democrats unanimously opposed. In a bipartisan vote, the Senate passed its own farm bill without major changes to work requirements. Lawmakers in both chambers reached a tentative deal in November that excluded the House provisions.